I Used to Have a Handle on Life, but Then It Broke
by Sultan Peppershaker
Summary: Isn't it amazing how something one ten thousandth of our size can have the effect that it does? And isn't it amazing what people will go through to avoid telling the truth?
1. Teardrop

**And I am already releasing another story. Hip hip hooray for me!

* * *

**

Phil walked down the hall to the video productions lab. On the doorframe hung a mistletoe plant. Phil looked up at it, took it down, inspected it closely, then threw it in the trash, muttering, "I can't believe that they let a weed grow in the school.

"Keely?" he asked, coming up next to her. "Coming to lunch?"

Keely looked up. "I don't think so… I'll just stay here. You go ahead."

"Okay," Phil muttered, and went to the cafeteria.

Phil sat down, looking at his food with a grimace. "Do they really expect us to _eat_ this stuff?" he asked nobody in particular.

"The sad thing is, I think they do," Via sighed, poking her bread roll with a fork. "This is the only thing that I actually know the identity of on this plate…" she added, holding up a cup of Jell-O.

Phil screamed, jumped back out of his seat, and demanded, "**What is _that_**?"

Via looked taken aback. "It's Jell-O, Phil. Calm down. Haven't you ever seen Jell-O before?"

"Yes… And I hoped I never would again. Give it to me. I'll save you."

Via handed him the Jell-O cup nervously, and Phil let the gelatinous substance plop onto a paper plate. "Fork," he said, extending a hand, much in the same fashion a surgeon would ask for a scalpel.

Via gave him the fork handle-first, and he hesitantly poked it. The small cube wriggled from the contact, and Phil deduced, "It's still alive. We must dispose of it!" He looked around, and saw a trashcan. He threw it, shouting, "Fire in the hole!" and the glob landed in the trash. Via laughed. "That was close," Phil muttered.

"Where's Keely?" Via asked interestedly, looking around.

"Oh, she said that she was going to stay in the video lab."

"I see… Well, at least she doesn't have to look at this," she said, pushing her plate across the table.

"You're not gonna eat that?" Owen asked. Via gave him a disgusted look, and shook her head. "Sweet," he said, picking up the bread and taking a bite. Via made a gagging sound, and Phil coughed, as he had been drinking some of his water when he started laughing. He coughed a bit more, and slammed his fist onto his spoon, the handle of which had been resting beneath his applesauce. The applesauce flew across the room, and landed squarely on Candida's face.

She wiped her face, and snapped to look at the only possible culprit- Pim. Pim looked back in horror, and darted out the cafeteria, Candida in hot pursuit.

"PIM-PLE!" Candida shouted, as she chased Pim down the hall. "YOU ARE SO DEAD!"

"_You'll have to catch me first!_" Pim shouted back over her shoulder.

"No running!" shouted a year seven. "That's how accidents happen!"

Pim hoped that she wouldn't be caught, because she was fairly sure that she would be tortured very slowly should Candida catch up to her. Considering Candida had longer legs, that gave Pim somewhat of a disadvantage.

She rounded a corner, shoved a chair out of her way, then stopped dead.

"No… it's not possible!"

In front of Pim, about twenty feet ahead, stood Candida, a smirk on her face.

"NO!" Pim shouted, and turned to run. But she ran smack into Keely.

"Careful, Pim," Keely said. "You're gonna get yourself hurt or something."

"That's kind of why I was running," Pim replied, pushing Keely past her.

Keely walked by, and was about to pass Candida when a sharp pain shot through her leg. She dropped to one knee, trying to get back up with the leg that wasn't experiencing any pain, but she couldn't. She collapsed to the ground, clutching her right leg.

Pim and Candida stared on in shock as Keely grabbed her right thigh and let out a sharp gasp.

"Candida," Keely breathed out. "Be a dear… call the doctor…"

Candida took out her cell phone, and Mr. Hackett, who was perusing the hall, squawked, "No cell phones!"

"But… but she's in pain!" Almost as if on cue, Keely let out a scream of pain, and Mr. Hackett thought that maybe this was a special circumstance. He nodded, and Candida continued to dial. _The one time I try to be nice, and he nearly stops me from doing it_, Candida thought.

* * *

**Ooh... new story... so that means you'll give me lotsa reviews, right? I thought so...**


	2. Give Me Novocaine Or Something Like That

Via looked repulsed as Owen gleefully ate his lunch. Phil sighed as he absently gazed at Via.

This caught Via's attention, and she turned to Phil. Phil hastily looked at his hands, as her expression immediately became confused, and Phil furrowed his brow. "What's wrong?"

"There's a bloody ambulance here," Via replied, getting up from her seat. Phil followed, and Owen sat at the table, taking a few things from each tray, and piling onto his own.

Phil and Via rounded the corner, and Phil ran smack into her, as she stopped so suddenly. They watched as Keely was placed onto a stretcher, sitting up. "Keely," Via started, "what happened?"

Keely looked up, and they saw that her eyes were bloodshot. "Hurts," was all she managed to muster, as she clamped onto her leg.

* * *

As Keely's ambulance pulled away from the school, Phil and Via looked worriedly at each other. "She'll be okay," Phil reassured, wishing he believed his own words. "She'll be just fine."

"Hey guys," Owen said, coming up from behind them. "I thought I'd catch you two…" Owen extended his hands out, at a loss for words.

" 'Snogging'?" Via suggested.

"Uh… if that means making out, then yes," Owen replied. Via rolled her eyes.

"Keely just got taken to the hospital, Owen…" Phil said.

"Really? Why?"

"Dunno… only that she's in some pain, I guess."

"You guess?"

"Yeah," Via added. "Maybe it was the way her eyes were bloodshot, or how she was breathing so sharply, or how she was clutching her leg and muttering 'it hurts…'"

"Those were some obvious signs," Phil added.

"Well what could've caused that pain?" Owen asked.

Via disappeared into the next room, and reappeared, holding a rather large book. "This is a medical dictionary," she explained. "Look up all the diseases that have the symptom of 'pain'."

"But… there's gotta be a million possible causes!"

"Twenty-six letters, Owen. I suggest you start with 'A'…"

Owen rolled his eyes. "I get the point… we won't know until they find out… hey, what do you say that we drop by the hospital after school?"

"I don't know if she'd still be there… depending on what caused it, I mean… She might already be getting better."

"Well… we could call her house," Via began, "and if she's still not home, then we could see what's going on at the hospital."

"I'm alright with that," Phil said. "But… she's probably already getting better."

* * *

However, Keely's pain only seemed to be worse as she sat on the uncomfortable bed in the middle of Exam Room 1.

"Hello," a young female doctor said, entering the room, "I'm Doctor Kaila Robertson. You must be…" she flipped a page on her clipboard, and added, "Keely."

Keely nodded, moaning in pain.

Dr. Robertson looked over the stats on the page, and sat down. She was about to begin speaking, when Keely mustered, "Morphine…"

"Morphine?"

"I need morphine," she seethed between clenched teeth. "This hurts like a fu--"

Dr. Robertson cut her off. "Can you bend or straighten your leg at all?"

Keely rolled her eyes, and tried to straighten her leg out. She extended it a bit, but then the pain just became greater, and she screamed louder. The same effect came when she tried to bend the leg more. "Just kill me now!" Keely shouted.

Dr. Robertson picked up the phone, and dialed a number, said a few words, then hung up, saying to Keely, "We're going to get you down to Dr. Alexander. She's in diagnostics… she'll figure out what's happening with your leg."

And soon, a stretcher came, and Keely was carted off to a different floor.

* * *

"Hello, Keely," a young doctor said, entering the room. "I'm Doctor Sasha Alexander. We'll fi--"

"MORPHINE!" Keely shouted, slamming her fist on the hospital bed to which she was confined, as daggers attacked her leg.

"We ju--"

"You need to give me the morphine!" she shouted, looking at Dr. Alexander, who had a syringe in hand. Keely suspected that was exactly what she needed, and took the syringe and rammed it into her leg.

Seconds later, the pain already began to subside. Keely let out a sigh, as the doctor began to go over what they were going to do. But it didn't matter to Keely what they were going to do to her. The pain was gone, for now…That was all that mattered to her.

Well, all that mattered to her at that moment.

* * *

**And now it's the time when I beg for reviews to fuel me, and you, being the wonderful people you are, oblige to my begging.**


	3. Just Like A Pill

"Mr. And Mrs. Teslow?" Dr. Alexander called out. Mandy and her husband Stan stood up, and Phil looked up. Via looked up from the book she was reading (a new release called _Can't Fight The Moonlight_), and Owen jerked awake. "I'm Doctor Sasha Alexander. I have some news regarding your daughter's condition…"

"Good or bad?" Phil whispered to himself.

"I'm afraid it doesn't look good," Dr. Alexander said, confirming Phil's fears. "We've discovered that she has Deep Vein Thrombosis--"

"What's that?" Owen piped up, saying what they were all thinking.

"It's a blood clot in the leg. That's the good news, though. The clot stayed in your daughter's leg, and didn't move to the heart or brain. We'll need to remove the clot, but due to the prolonged period of time that the clot was in her leg, she will have experienced some muscle death." Mandy made a quavering noise, but Dr. Alexander continued. "We'll have to remove the dead muscle, which will limit your daughter's mobility. Though, the chances are infinitesimal that she will regain _full _mobility, she should be able to move about easily with time. However, she will experience pain."

"For how long?"

"It's hard to say," Dr. Alexander said. "It may leave as soon as a few months, or it could be life-long…" Mandy looked ready to faint. "Now, I'm going to need you to come with me…" she said, and the three retreated down the hall.

"Think she'll be okay?" Via asked, looking over her book at the other two.

Phil sighed. Dead muscle, blood clots, deep vein thrombosis… this was definitely unexpected… "I'm sure she'll be just fine," Phil muttered, again, doubting his own words.

* * *

But, the next day, when Keely was due to be released, the three of them came back to the hospital. Keely came out and stepped into the room. Phil was reading a magazine, Owen had fallen asleep, and Via was buried in her book. Keely hobbled over to Via, and placed the cane she'd been given squarely on Via's foot.

"OWWW!" Via screamed out, but when she saw Keely smiling at her, she squealed and jumped up, giving Keely a bear hug.

"It's, uh, nice to see you too," Keely mustered, leaning on her cane for support.

"So did the surgery go well? Did they fix you?"

"Please… don't say 'fix'. It makes me sound like a piece of machinery."

"But you're all better?" Phil asked, looking at her. She nodded. "That's great…" he looked down, and saw the long piece of dead tree she was leaning on. "You have a cane."

"I also have these," Keely said, pulling out a bottle filled with pills.

"Vicodin," Via said, looking at the label. Keely nodded again.

"Finally, an excuse to get high," she joked, rolling her eyes and pocketing it. "I tried to go without it, but it was hell. I sure hope this pain doesn't last my whole life."

"I'm sure it won't," Phil said.

"Do you know something I don't?" Keely asked, and Phil picked up the meaning.

"No. I don't know anything you don't."

"Anyway, I guess they caught it early enough so I'll regain about all of the movement I once had… but I don't think I'll be able to run or anything, which is a good excuse to get out of P.E."

Via smirked. "Well, that's good…"

"The thing is… I don't know if I'll ever rid myself of this thing," she said, raising the cane up. Unfortunately, Owen had chosen that moment to walk up behind Keely, and he was smacked in the head with the mahogany.

"OW!" he shouted.

"Oh… sorry Owen," Keely said, looking back at him.

"'Salrite," he replied, rubbing his head. "I guess you're okay?"

"Yep," Keely replied. "Good as used."

* * *

The four hopped into Phil's car, Via riding shotgun, and Keely and Owen in the back. "Oh," Owen said, breaking the silence, "I heard a good one the other day! What did one cripple say to the other?"

"I'm gonna stick this cane where the sun don't shine if you don't shut up, Owen," Keely warned.

"Oh… you heard it too?"

"Guys, help," Keely said.

"Don't make me pull this car over," Phil warned.

"Honestly, kids," Via added, "if you fight any more on this car ride, you're grounded."

Owen sighed, as Keely stuck her tongue out at him.

"We're here," Phil stated the obvious as they pulled into Keely's driveway.

"Why are we going to _Keely's_ house?" whined Owen.

"Hey," Phil said, turning around. "She's been gone for two days… she probably wants to get back…"

"I know, Owen," Keely added, getting out of the car. "Stop being so Narcissistic."

Via knocked on the door, and Ashley opened it up. "Keely!" she squealed, and Keely squealed, "Ashley!" and the two hugged; Via dove out of the way just before she was sandwiched.

"Is Mom or Dad home?" Keely asked, stepping in.

"No," Ashley responded. "They're at work…"

"Ah…"

"Who are you talking to?" Bonnie demanded from the other room. She poked her head in and squealed with joy. "Keely!"

By some astonishing trick of gravity, Keely didn't fall to the ground when her sister enveloped her. "Omygosh, Keely! You're back… and you have a cane…" Bonnie noticed.

"Yep," Keely said. "Not too many people get to experience muscle death."

Bonnie winced. "That doesn't sound too pleasant…"

"Ah… you've been through worse…"

"Well… yeah, but…"

Keely sauntered into the living room, and the rest followed her. Phil sat on the edge of a couch, Owen sat on the other edge, and Ashley reluctantly sat next to him. Keely took a seat on a chair, and Bonnie sat on the armrest. Via squeezed between Phil and Ashley.

"So… muscle death?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah… I had deep vein thrombosis, I think…" Keely looked at Phil, and he nodded, placing his arm on the back of the couch. Bonnie kept looking at Phil, a knowing smirk on her face.

"What?" Phil asked, as Keely popped a pill into her mouth and swallowed it.

"Nothing," Bonnie muttered. _Boy, Phil_, she thought. _Could you be any more obvious? I'm surprised she isn't letting on yet…

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_

**Oh... it's 1:21 AM right now... so I will publish this and then I shall get some much needed rest...**


	4. Speak To Myself

"What are you smiling at?" Phil asked again.

"Nothing," Bonnie said, laughing.

The two had an unannounced staring contest, until Phil broke the silence. "I hit Candida in the face with applesauce the day your… illness… showed itself."

"You hit Candida in the face with applesauce?" Keely asked, smiling broadly.

"Yeah, it was great. I hit the spoon on the table, and the applesauce launched right into her. It was hilarious. Everybody was laughing."

"You know, Phil," Via piped up, "Arthur Schopenhauer once said, '_Neid zu fühlen ist menschlich, Schadenfreude zu genießen teuflisch._'"

Phil looked at Via, confused. "I think you were speaking German."

"Yes, German. Arthur Schopenhauer was German, he spoke German."

The room remained silent.

Via rolled her eyes. "I guess I have to elaborate… 'To feel envy is human- to feel _Schadenfreude_ is devilish.'"

"But… she deserved it!" Phil stopped, thinking of all the torture Candida had caused Pim, and said, "Actually… she didn't… That was really uncalled for, what I did…"

"Jeez, Phil… calm down…" Keely muttered.

"So Bonnie… Keely said that you were through worse than she was?" Phil asked. "Care to elaborate?"

Bonnie sighed. "Well… since I know you won't let it go if I don't… it was a little while ago, when I used to play soccer… well, one minute, somebody kicks the ball away from the other team, and the next minute, somebody's diving for the ball. Instead, they miss, and land on my lower leg, and the bone broke right in the middle between the foot and knee at a forty-five degree angle. Then… all I remember is pain…"

"Wow…" Phil muttered.

"It always brings back _great_ memories whenever I see it on tape…"

"That's horrible…" Via muttered. She leaned against Phil, muttering that she felt a little sick.

Bonnie buried her face in her hands to hide her laughter.

"I think I'm going to get some water," Phil said, and got up. The others began to talk avidly to Keely.

Phil stopped dead when he saw mistletoe hanging from the doorframe. "I can't believe they're letting weeds grow in their house!" he exclaimed, and threw it in the trash.

* * *

It wasn't until later that day that Phil had the strangest experience of his life.

He heard a knock at the door, and went to answer it. When he opened the door, he found that he was face to face with himself.

This other Phil walked inside, and Phil asked, "Who are you?"

The other responded, "I'm you one month from now."

"You're gorgeous," Phil muttered.

"You're not so bad-looking yourself… Listen, I have to tell you something."

"Alright, go ahead."

"There's something you need to do… something in 2121."

"2121?" Phil asked.

"I can't tell you exactly what to do… I wasn't told what to do, so I don't think it would be good if I told you… but you must do something in 2121... Or all of this will never happen."

Phil was confused.

"You'll figure out what I mean eventually," the Phil of the future assured him. "But you must do something in 2121... Or you'll find that this reality won't exist… and once you do what you're supposed to, then go back a month, and tell the Phil living in that time…"

"What?"

"And make sure you do it before _December twentieth_…" the future Phil muttered, putting extra emphasis on the last two words. "I'm afraid that's all I can tell you… I need to get the time machine back anyway… well, good luck."

The future Phil left, and Phil sat down, his head swimming. What had just happened? What was all of this rubbish about doing something in 2121? Why did he have to do it before December 20?

Well… he had to tell somebody about this, so he picked up the phone, and called up Keely. She promised to be at his house soon.

* * *

**And now comes the best part- the part where you review!**


	5. No News Is Good News

"So," Keely said, struggling to understand what Phil was telling her, "you open the door and you are told by your future self that you have to do something in 2121 before December 20?"

"Yes… I'm just as confused as you are…"

"And you have no idea what you're supposed to do?"

"Nope."

Keely sighed, and leaned against the wall, twirling her cane between her fingers. "Well this is a revolting development…"

Phil nodded. "I have absolutely no idea what is going on…"

"Well… I don't have a clue either, Phil…"

Phil sighed, looking at his shoes. "I don't understand what this could mean…"

"Well, Phil, this is all very exciting, but… we have school in the morning, and it's much too late to be destroying any chance of sleep I have by thinking of your time-traveling…"

"Alright… I guess I'd better start getting ready for bed too… see you tomorrow, Keely," he said, and Keely limped out of his house.

* * *

The next day, Phil and Keely met up in front of the school. They headed down the hall to their lockers, when Phil stopped dead. Keely kept going for a little while until she saw that Phil had stopped. "Phil," she said, "come on…"

"It's Joe Hanscom," Phil muttered, gesturing down the hall. "He's been out to get me ever since I made a fool of him in English."

"Phil, don't be such a coward… he won't even notice…"

Keely walked down the hall, and Phil began to follow, until Joe turned around, and called out, "Hey, Phil!"

Phil stopped, and Keely, who had already passed Joe, turned around.

"I'm gonna get you, Diffy," Joe warned, advancing on him. "One of these days, you're going down."

Keely had walked up behind Joe, and shouted, "Hey, Joe!"

He whipped around, and Keely swung her mahogany cane straight into his side, just below the ribs. He let out a loud grunt, and staggered back, doubling over while clutching at his stomach. She started to advance on him, but he backed away before she could take another swipe.

"Holy crap…" Phil muttered, seeing Keely in a new light. "That was amazing…" Keely smiled.

"Just looking out for my friend, Phil… it's nothing special… anybody with a hunk of mahogany could do it…"

"That was amazing…"

"Quit fawning over me and get to class, Phil," Keely joked. "Talk to ya later," she said, as the bell rang.

* * *

Keely sat at her computer and typed a message to Phil.

TheNotoriousDVT: Hey Phil, have u thot about that thing u told me about?

MrWIZRD2121: Yeah… still haven't figured it out…

TheNotoriousDVT: So wats up?

MrWIZRD2121: Pick a number between 1 and 12.

TheNotoriousDVT:6

MrWIZRD2121:Half dozen- nice solid number. Okay, now red, white, pink, yellow, or peach?

TheNotoriousDVT:White. Phil, where's this going?

MrWIZRD2121: With or without?

TheNotoriousDVT:Wut? W/ or W/O wut?

MrWIZRD2121:Answer! Answer!

TheNotoriousDVT:Uh… w/o.

MrWIZRD2121:Thank you. Was that so hard to answer?

TheNotoriousDVT:Wut was that about?

TheNotoriousDVT:Did u leave?

MrWIZRD2121:Still here.

TheNotoriousDVT: Wut was that about?

MrWIZRD2121: You'll see.

TheNotoriousDVT: OMG when?

MrWIZRD2121: Soon enough.

TheNotoriousDVT: That's not soon enough! Y won't u tell me?

MrWIZRD2121: It's a secret.

TheNotoriousDVT: And we all know how u can't trust me w/ur secrets! Y won't u tell me?

MrWIZRD2121: You're smart. Figure it out.

TheNotoriousDVT: I'm not smart! Tell me!

MrWIZRD2121: No comment.

TheNotoriousDVT: U R mean.

GLTZGAL has joined the conversation.

GLTZGAL: Hey everyone! Miss me?

TheNotoriousDVT: Tia! (hugs)

MrWIZRD2121: Hey, Tia… anyway. figure it out, Keels. I gotta go now. A lot of homework…

GLTZGAL: ur such a bookworm, Phil.

MrWIZRD2121: I'll take that as a compliment. Okay, bye.

MrWIZRD2121 has left the conversation.

TheNotoriousDVT: Byebye… Tia, did u read our conversation?

GLTZGAL: Yeah… wut was he talkin about?

TheNotoriousDVT: Dunno. U can't tell?

GLTZGAL: Not from this… Phil's kinda sneaky I guess.

TheNotoriousDVT: He's really sneaky…

GLTZGAL: Yeah.

Viailbellaragazza has joined the conversation.

TheNotoriousDVT: But that's why I love him.

Viailbellaragazza: Okay, maybe I should come back later.

TheNotoriousDVT: Via! OMG! (hugs) U just caught the wrong part of the conversation…

Viailbellaragazza: Uh… it looks like you said you love Phil…

TheNotoriousDVT: Not in _that_ way…

Viailbellaragazza: Are you sure about that?

TheNotoriousDVT: Almost definitely!

GLTZGAL: Wuteva, Keely. You so dig Phil.

TheNotoriousDVT: I so do not! Unless u know me better than I do…

GLTZGAL: I do…

TheNotoriousDVT: wuteva, I gotta motor. L8r!

GLTZGAL: She so digs Phil, doesn't she?

Viailbellaragazza: I wouldn't doubt it… there is definitely something going on with Phil…

GLTZGAL: Wut do u mean?

Viailbellaragazza: He's just… very secretive, that's all. Almost a little paranoid…

GLTZGAL: Yeah, I no wut u mean… o, my mom is making me get off the comp… set fire to the curtains and pay for it! L8r!

GLTZGAL has left the conversation

Phil sighed as he turned off his computer. His head was hurting with all of the things he had to do… all of the things he needed to take care of… not to mention thinking of what his future ego had told him, and what it could possibly mean.

* * *

**Okay, I'm ending this chapter right here.**

**Surely you've all heard the news, right? Here, let me post exactly what it said:**

"**Not sure how many of you WILL believe me but any ways.. **

Despite being told that Season 3 is a go ahead in January Amy's dad sent me an email saying that POTF has been cancelled. He said that "We just got the word that Phil is canceled. The only way the show will return is if the fans go to Disney about it." so please PLEASE go to the Disney site and bombard them with email I'm not sure where exactly the option is or you can write to them or even call them if you are in the USA..here's the info...

Anne Sweeney  
President, The Disney Channel  
3800 Alameda Ave.  
Burbank, CA 91505

You might want to also try the following:

Michael Eisner  
Roy E. Disney  
The Walt Disney Company  
500 South Buena Vista Street  
Burbank, CA 91521

**Their number is (800)874-1687. Ask for the Programming Department and let them know that you want POTF back on air! **

As I said Amy's DAD emailed this to me so if you all love POTF as much as you say you all do please try you're best! I can only write letter's unfortunately..phone call will cost waaaay too much so I hope you guys bombard them because they cant take a good show like potf off the air and put on a crappy cartoon like they have done the previous years!"

**That was posted by the person who runs amy-brucknerDOTnet (the name escape me) at today at 6:30 Eastern time. **

**I'm sure you're rather upset by this news, so I urge you to either send a letter (to an address above), call Disney Channel (at the number above, though the lines are only open on weekdays at like, 8am-6pm, I think), or, third, send an email at the following link (replace DOT witha period)We must do everything in our power to keep POTF on the air.**

**http/wwwDOTsavedisneyshowsDOTorg/phil/email**

**At the tab on the left where all the names are, just check all the names...**

**Thanks for your time--**

**Sultan Peppershaker**

**(Oh yeah, review if you feel like it…)**


	6. This All Was Only Wishful Thinking

**Okay, I hate to sound like an annoying parent here...**

**I know that you're upset about the possible cancellation of Phil of the Future, but, and I cannot stress this enough, if you choose to write to the people, you must be nice to them… if they are considering canceling the show, they're doing what they think is best for the network. We must convince them it's not a good move, but the last thing we need is them to be mad at us for being impolite about the whole thing.**

**Oh, and to AC, Keely's screen name implies "The Notorious Deep Vein Thrombosis..."- the disease she's riddled with…

* * *

**

Bonnie sighed as Keely delayed her even more. "It's urgent, Keely… please… pleasepleaseplease! Lives hang in the balance!"

Keely rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll let you borrow the damn car, but if you crash it, it's not my fault."

"Please, I'm not going to crash the car," Bonnie said, as she was walking away. She ran into the doorframe, and added, "I'm not going to crash."

Keely wasn't so sure about that… but what she found more curious was why Bonnie so urgently needed to borrow her car. It was most curious…

But what was more curious was what was going on with Phil over the past few days… first, Phil of the future comes to visit him and tells him to do something further in the future… then he asks a series of seemingly random questions to her, and won't tell her the meaning. And now he claimed that he had some 'business to attend to' after school, so he wouldn't be home until three o'clock.

Little did Keely know that after school, Phil came up to locker number 217, spun the combination, and opened it up. He assured that everything was perfectly in place and aged properly before he shut the door and spun the lock a bit.

No, Keely did not know this, and began to grow suspicious that he was leaving- the inexplicable visit from his future self, the secrecy… maybe he just hadn't told her yet…

Maybe he'd never tell her.

_That's just your damn paranoia kicking in, Teslow_, Keely thought, as she tossed a Vicodin in the air and caught it in her mouth.

_Just your paranoia Phil's not really leaving he'd tell me if he was leaving he wouldn't keep it a secret be reasonable you're his best friend and he tells you everything hell he'd probably tell you if he loved you and you'd do the same for him so stop being so paranoid that he's leaving because he's not!_

And just at that moment, Phil was thinking, _This should get the point across.

* * *

_

**Short chapter, I know, but I'm venting some stress right now. Honestly, I broke a plate when I heard that POTF was getting cancelled. I just slammed my fist down, and I look at what snapped, and there's this busted plate under my hand… kinda funny, really…**


	7. Part of My Messed Up World

Phil smiled as Keely came up to her locker. "Hey Phil," she said, popping a pill into her mouth, then spinning her combination. "What's up?"

"Not much… I'm in a rush, and I know that you didn't get the last problem on the math homework…"

"How do you…" Keely trailed off, remembering who she was talking to. "Thanks, Phil," she said, and opened her locker. Phil smiled.

"Okay, here's the homework, Keely… I'll explain it later, but I have to… go now…"

Keely nodded, and Phil rushed down the hall.

Just as planned, there she was, walking up to the locker. Phil was beginning to have second thoughts about his whole plan. His heart was beating much harder than normal, and he felt he needed to swallow something down, but just couldn't do it… His stomach twisted and churned as she spun the lock…

Then he began to wonder if he had made the roses a bit too young when he used the New Ager… what if he did? What if he made a fool of himself?

But he didn't, he saw. As she opened the door, he saw that six white roses rested neatly in their places. He breathed out a sigh of relief as she gathered them in her hand.

"Hey," Phil said, finally gathering the courage to talk to her.

"You did this?" she asked. He nodded, and after a beat, she nodded too. "I suppose that makes sense… I mean, Owen would never be this thoughtful… I mean, his lift doesn't exactly stop on all floors… but I always thought… you and Keely…"

"I guess not," Phil said, smiling. "But I suppose we all eventually reveal our darkest secrets…"

"You don't say," Via replied, sounding a little distant. Snapping back, she added, "And sometimes we never know how alike we may be…"

* * *

It was later that day when Bonnie and her beau George were at his house that Bonnie remembered something she'd promised Keely. 

"Oh… Georgie?"

"Yeah, Bonnie?" George asked.

"I think I need to go… I totally forgot, I'm sorry… I just need-"

"Are you doing something you shouldn't be doing?" he snapped, throwing an accusatory look at her.

"What? No, where did you get a crazy--"

"Are you giving me attitude?" George asked.

"I'm not giving you attitude!" Bonnie protested. "I just--"

Bonnie was interrupted by a slap on the face. "You're talking back… Sounds like you've forgotten…"

"Forgotten?" she asked, confused, as George walked across the room.

"I'm worried, Bonnie," he said, looking around in the closet, and finally finding what he was searching for. "I'm worried about you an _awful_ lot."

Bonnie's eyes widened in horror as George produced a belt from the closet. He snapped it, and it made a fine cracking sound in the air. "Georgie… no… please, I can remember…"

"I know you will remember," he said, smirking nastily, and lashed the makeshift whip at her. It licked her right forearm, leaving a bright red mark. Accentuating every pause with another lash of the belt, he added, "You'll remember not to talk back… you'll remember to be honest with me… you'll remember any time you think of seeing somebody else… and you'll remember that if you try to avoid it, it's gonna get worse." Bonnie continued to back away.

"I won't--"

_SNAP_, went the belt, striking Bonnie's legs. She let out a small whimper, and continued to back away.

He stopped, swinging the belt from one hand, ominously. Bonnie dimly thought that it didn't look like a belt, more like a snake, and that maybe this snake was poisonous… maybe this wouldn't end until she was

_dead_.

"Georgie, please," she pleaded, bumping into the wall. Nowhere to run.

"I just want you to remember what I've told you," he said. The belt continued to snap, striking her knees, licking her backside, slapping her shoulders…

"I'll remember," Bonnie cried out. She started to slide to her knees, as the blows began to stop.

"Get up," George commanded, and Bonnie slowly rose to her feet, after wiping away the tears from her eyes. "Your eyes are red. Have you been crying?"

"No, George," Bonnie lied. Showing weakness in front of George was not associated with good memories.

George looked her up and down, and muttered, "Just go… get out of my sight…"

Bonnie slowly left the house, afraid that any sudden movements would result in some more teaching of lessons. She hopped in the car, and drove home, trying to keep her mind away from George Gray.

And as she pulled into the driveway, she broke down and cried, burying her head in her arms.

* * *

**Reviews... I need reviews to function...**


	8. Lies

"So," Via said, "this is what you meant on that conversation that day, isn't it? Six, white, without… Six white roses… sent without a card?"

Phil nodded. "Yeah," he smiled, as she put the roses in a vase. "How did you…"

"Well… I just kind of figured it out…"

"Did you?" Phil asked, sitting down on the couch. He dropped his arms, forgetting that he had the WIZRD in his pocket. He heard a small beep, and noticed that something was going wrong. Via, luckily, wasn't in the room when he inadvertently shrunk himself. He fumbled for the WIZRD, but when he heard her approaching, he dove between the cushions of the couch, hoping he wouldn't be noticed.

Via furrowed her brow. She could've sworn she saw Phil come into the living room and sit down on the couch. And for some reason, he wasn't in the room.

Phil was afraid that she was going to take a seat on the couch, but, through some divine miracle, she decided to walk down the hall. He took this as his opportunity, and activated the device. However, just as he was using the device, Via turned around as he regained his normal stature.

She froze. She knew what she'd seen. There was no denying that.

"Phil…" she started.

"Via, it's not what you think, I can explain…"

"I think it's exactly what I think," Via said, but Phil cut her off.

"No, there's--"

"You're from the future," Via said, matter-of-factly.

"I can… what did you just say?"

"You're from the future." Phil stared at her, flabbergasted. "I can't believe it… you're from the future!"

"You… but…"

"Phil, calm down, alright? It's okay…"

"It is?"

"Yes… because _so am I_…"

Phil was speechless. He opened his mouth several times, but closed it, unable to articulate what he was trying to say.

"Small world, huh?" Via asked. "What year were you born?"

"2106," Phil replied.

"No kidding… I was born in 2105... This is too…"

"Freaky?" Phil suggested.

"Amazing! I… I can't believe this…"

Phil stood silently, until a thought burst into his head. "Say… maybe you could help me figure something out. A few days ago, I had the strangest experience…"

* * *

**Review! Please...**


	9. Truth Of My Youth

Via sighed as Phil finished telling her his story. "That's… confusing," she said.

"You're telling me…"

"Unless… no, it's a stupid idea."

"Go on…"

"Well… I mean, it's probably not it, but I was thinking maybe you would go back to the future and sabotage your time machine _just_ enough so it crashes here… but I'm sure that's not the case."

"That's just crazy enough to work," Phil muttered. "Via, what would I be without you?"

"Single," Via muttered, rubbing the back of her neck. Phil smirked, and said, "Well… I suppose I'd better get on that now, eh?"

"I suppose if that's what you think," Via replied, smiling at him.

So Philprepared to go right the future, to ensure his past.

* * *

Keely sighed as she popped a pill into her mouth. The normal feeling of euphoria came back minutes later, and the dull pain threatening to rise subsided. Heaven. Heaven in an impossibly small capsule. 

Yes, it was indeed something she felt she needed, but that was only because whenever she went too long without the medicine, the familiar stabbing pain would come back. She came dangerously close to knocking Ashley out, while she swung her cane back at the same moment her sister happened to be walking by.

No, these pills helped her feel good… feel healthy, that is.

She tapped her cane on Bonnie's door, and Bonnie, trying to keep her voice from quavering, called out, "Come in…"

"Hey," Keely said. "I just need to get something from you really quick." She hobbled over to the armoire, as Bonnie cried silently into her hands.

Keely might have just left the room without doing anything else. She might have never even known something was wrong. But Bonnie unintentionally let out a quavering sob.

"Bonnie?" Keely asked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Bonnie lied. However, Keely wasn't convinced.

"Don't lie," she said, in a soft voice. "What's bothering you?"

Bonnie waited a long time before she realized Keely wasn't leaving. "Georgie…" she finally muttered.

"What about him? What did he do?"

She took another breath. "He… he h-h… He… He hi-hi.." Bonnie sighed, slamming her fist on her leg. "He b-b-b-bea… He…"

Keely was eerily silent. "Do you mean what I think you mean?" Bonnie nodded. "That little fu-"

"I can't believe I told you… he's going to kill me…"

"Oh, don't you worry about… _Georgie_… No, I'll take care of… _Georgie_…" Keely inhaled deeply. "He won't hurt you anymore, Bonnie. I promise…" Keely wrapped her arms around her sister, and Bonnie hugged her back.

Keely got up, and was about to leave, when Bonnie piped up. "Keely?"

"Yeah, Bonnie?"

"Thanks…"

"Hey… don't worry about it. Why do you think I have this cane?" she asked, waving the mahogany around. Bonnie smiled, despite herself.

Keely smirked to herself as she left her sister's room. George was in for a big surprise… George Gray was gonna get a whuppin'.

* * *

Sorry this chapter took so long, but FFdotnet was having issues uploading my document... it actually still is, but I found a way around it eventually...


	10. The Drug Buzz Feels Like I'm On This Fic

**Hm… I'm gonna just see what happens as I write this chapter…

* * *

**

"So, Phil," Keely said to Phil on the other line, "did you ever figure out what your conversation with yourself was all about?"

"Actually, yes," Phil replied, "but… don't you worry your pretty little head about it, Keely… I've got it all fixed up… and speaking of fixed up… you seem to be pretty… hooked on those pills."

"What do you mean?" Keely asked.

"It's just, you seem a little… dependent on them."

"Of course I am!" Keely said. "I need them to function!"

"That's what I'm saying…"

"If I don't take them, I'll experience severe pain, Phil. Besides, it's not like… an addiction, or anything. It's medical."

"I dunno, Keely… you seem a little… different lately. Like, your personality."

"No, really? I hadn't noticed," Keely said sarcastically.

"You know what I mean…"

"Well, first of all, George has his ass-kicking coming to him… I think he'll be lucky if he escapes with his life."

Phil sighed. "I don't know, I just… you seem… changed."

"Yeah. Losing mobility in one of your legs could do that to you, Phil. Of course you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

Phil sighed. She was getting argumentative, and for Phil, that was a sign to get out before he was seriously injured. Even though they were only talking on the phone… maybe the medicine would make her do some bad things… And he didn't want to get on the wrong end of that cane…

"I guess I wouldn't, Keely… but I gotta go now…"

"Why? Gotta date with Via?"

"Maybe… I'll ask her."

Keely sighed. She hated when she gave Phil ideas. "Whatever… Okay, bye." She hung up, and looked at her ceiling.

After a moment of silence, she said aloud, "I'm not addicted."

Ashley, who happened to be walking by, thought she was speaking to her. "Beg pardon?"

"Huh?"

"Did you say something?"

"Did you hear me say something?"

"Are you going to answer my question?"

"Well.. I was just saying that I wasn't addicted to the narcotics…"

"Oh…"

"Phil had this crazy idea that I was hooked on them. Can you believe that?" Keely said, forcing a laugh.

"Hm…" Ashley muttered.

"You don't think that's funny?" Keely asked.

"I don't think _you_ do."

"Wha- bu- I- I- I- wa- ju- bu-"

"What's wrong? Afraid that he's right?"

"No… that's just ridiculous."

"Oh… okay, then. But why were you pretending it was funny?"

"I don't know!" Keely exploded. "Maybe it was the way he said it- maybe it was because he thought I had a problem… which I don't… but he said that I was different… changed."

"And your point?"

"My point is that maybe these drugs are affecting me… changing who I really am…"

"I would think that they _would_ change you… not many people get to experience muscle death… I mean, you must have thought you were dying…"

"I wished I was dying," Keely said, and the two fell silent.

"But that's what I told him… it's strictly medical…" Keely eventually continued.

"So what's wrong? I mean, it's medical… so you shouldn't think anything of it…"

"But I do! It's just… it bothers me to know that he's always right… and he says that I might have a problem…"

"Well… what do you propose you do? Go into a time machine and fix it so you don't get any muscle death?"

"No, that's ridiculous; Phil would've gone back, and I wouldn't have had this muscle death in the first place." Ashley raised an eyebrow. "But I suppose that we _all_ reveal deep secrets, right?"

"I… I think you just did," Ashley said.

Keely sighed. "No, I didn't," she replied, and patted Ashley on the back, and walked out of the room, still worried that Phil had some sort of point to his reasoning… but even if she had a problem… there was a perfectly legitimate reason… wasn't there? She wasn't sure… all she knew is that the next day was going to be _very_ fun…


	11. Protecting Me

**Let's see what happens in this chapter… I haven't really planned it out much, so… this should be fun.

* * *

**

George entered the Teslow house, and called out, "Bonnie?" He shut the door, and walked further inside. Before he could say anything else, Keely came from seemingly out of nowhere, grabbed the front of his shirt, and slammed him against the wall.

George wasn't very tall; in fact, he was shorter than Phil, but he was fairly strong for his size. This sudden attack directed at him caught him off guard for a few seconds, but then he seemed to come back to reality, and punched her in the stomach.

She staggered back a bit. "We can play this way," she muttered, and swung her cane at him, the handle driving into his stomach.

He let out a long breath, as she grabbed his collar and threw him against the wall again. But again, he took a swing at her, and it landed on her jaw. "Don't you think about touching me," he warned. "You and that filthy sister--"

"You shut your mouth, pretty boy," Keely spat. She wasn't about to let George's outburst slide. She steadied her grip on the cane, and brought the handle crashing into his chest.

He fell to the ground on his knees, the wind knocked clean out of him. "Get up," she commanded. He didn't move, so she stomped on his back with her good leg. "Get up!" she screamed again, over his yelp of pain.

He still didn't rise to his feet, so she roughly helped him to his feet and threw him against the wall for the third time.

George muttered something derogatory under his breath. Big mistake.

"What did you call me?" she asked. George remained silent. So Keely punched him in the nose. "What did you call me?" she demanded, as blood began to flow freely from his nostrils.

"Nothing," he muttered, eyes full of hatred. She turned him around so he was facing the wall, and grabbed his arm, and pulled it at an angle that arms shouldn't be pulled at.

"Okay, listen up because I'm only saying this once. Stay the hell away from my sister. If I hear that you've been bothering her at all, if I even see you around her anymore, I can put a lot more pain on a guy than you're in right now. Understand?"

"You broke my nose, you little--"

"_Do you understand?_" Keely shouted, yanking his arm up yet further.

He groaned in pain, then let out a low, "Yes."

"What was that?" she asked.

"Yes," he said, with no more conviction then before.

"I can't hear you," she warned, menacingly, raising his arm higher still.

"I'll leave your sister alone!" he shouted. She nodded, then let go of his arm. He rubbed his elbow, looking at her, menacingly.

"Now get the hell out of here…" Keely commanded as George slowly walked to the front door. "Oh, and if you come near any of us again… I'll kill you."

* * *

"What is it?" Pim asked, resting her chin on the table.

"I don't know," Barbara replied. "The teacher said that they had extra left over, and she made me take it home."

"What are those things inside its stomach?" Pim wondered.

"I'm not sure," her mother replied, picking up a knife and carefully handling the plate, "but I think it'd be best if we got rid of this."

Phil walked in, and saw his mother picking up the plate of Jell-O. "Careful, Mom," he said, freezing. "It could strike at any moment…"

She carefully held the substance over the sink, and slowly scraped it off the plate and into the disposal.

"Hey, honey," Barbara said. "Don't you have a date with Keely?"

"Via," Phil corrected. "Later, I do, but… not now."

"How was the movie you guys went to on Saturday… what was it, again?"

"_Love, Indubitably,_" Phil replied.

"I thought Keely didn't like that movie."

"She doesn't… but I went with Via… but, it was an alright movie… anyway, I'm going to need to borrow the car tonight…"

"Where are you going?"

"Her house."

"But I thought Keely lived next door…"

"Via," Phil said. "And she lives on the other side of town."

"Okay… just be back before midnight…"

"Thanks…"

"Have fun with Keely…"

"Via," Phil replied, correcting her. "You mean to say, 'Have fun with Via.'"

"Just be sure to put the car in the garage after you get back from Keely's."

Phil opened his mouth to correct her, but figured his efforts would be futile anyway, so he shout his mouth and went up to his room.

* * *

**Hm... end of chapter... know what that means? Time to review...**


	12. Let Me Fall

**Okay, roxy-sweetie93... part of this chapter may look familiar. Let me say now, yes, it was from your suggestion... as for the other part of the suggestion... well, I want to do that too, so you just might see that later in the story. We'll see. Okay... may as well make this author's note worthwhile. Listening to "There's No 'I' in Team" by Taking Back Sunday... okay, 3, 2, 1... make chapter go now!**

* * *

"I'm still mad at you," Keely said to Phil, as the two walked down the hall.

"Why?" Phil asked.

"Because you said I had a drug problem. Or implied it, anyway. Which I don't..."

"I just… I just noticed that you've been acting a bit differently lately, that's all."

Keely frowned. "Whatever, Phil," she said. Keely walked into the video productions lab, and Phil was about to follow when he ran into Via in the doorway.

"Hey," she smiled. Phil laughed nervously after they unsuccessfully tried to pass each other. Via threw her head back and sighed. Then, a look of curiosity spread across her face. "Phil," she said, gesturing to the doorframe, "do you see that?"

"Yeah… that weed grew back," Phil said, taking the mistletoe in his hand, and throwing it on the ground. They heard a laugh come from the other side of the room.

"What?" the two asked Keely.

"Do you guys even know what mistletoe is?"

They didn't. Mistletoe wasn't around in the 22nd century.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Keely muttered. "When you bump into somebody under the mistletoe, you're supposed to kiss."

"What's a 'mistle'?" Phil asked.

"Isn't that one of those weapons launched from a pad?" Via responded. "Like a rocket?"

"They have toes?"

"I don't know… I think she's a bit nutty."

"I'm not crazy," Keely protested. "The mistletoe is the plant Phil just threw away…"

"That's a plant? I thought it was a weed that took root in the roof or something…" Phil muttered.

"Well… it's a parasite, really, but… you're supposed to kiss if two people are standing underneath it…"

"Why?" they both asked. Via continued, "You said yourself it's a parasite; why would you kiss under it? What's the meaning?"

"I don't know! Jeez, I can't believe you don't know about this…" Of course, Keely didn't know that Via was from the future, nor did she know that the mistletoe plant was wiped out in 2068.

"It's just…" Keely said, picking up the plant, and putting it back in its place, "it's so weird that you didn't know that…"

"Not our fault," Via muttered, as Phil walked to the door. Owen came in, and he stopped in the doorway, seeing that Phil was about to leave.

"Do _we_ have to kiss now?" Phil said, laughing.

"Just, go, Phil… you're too weird," Keely muttered. "And remember- you're helping me with my math homework after school.."

"I remember…"

* * *

Keely sat in her room. Phil had called, saying he'd be a few minutes late.

She absentmindedly twirled her cane between her fingers, pondering…

_Just had to happen to me, didn't it,_ she thought, popping a pill into her mouth. _Now I won't be able to walk on my own for the rest of my life… that's just great_…

Why couldn't she be like anybody else? Why couldn't she have full mobility? Why did she, the picture of health, get deep vein thrombosis?

Ashley told Phil that Keely was in her room as Keely stood up.

She tossed her cane across the room onto her bed.

_I used to be able to do this? Why can't I now?_ she wondered, as she took a step forward with her left leg. That was easy. However, the one with muscle death wasn't the same.

Phil came in as she pitched forward. He barely snagged her before she hit the ground. "What are you doing?" Phil asked.

"Don't ask," Keely replied, sitting on her bed, grabbing her leg, which was now in searing pain.

"Have you… taken any… lately?" Phil asked, looking at her pained expression.

_I shouldn't… I just took some…_ she thought.

_To hell with it_, her leg screamed out. _I don't need this pain_.

"Thanks for reminding me," Keely said, hesitantly taking another.

"Well… guess we should get to work on that homework," Phil sighed, taking out his binder. Keely nodded, and took her binder out of her backpack.

_Maybe Phil was right… just maybe…_ her mind kept nagging her. After a while, Keely was tired of her mind talking to her, and said aloud, "That's _ridiculous!_" She looked at Phil, fearfully.

"No, see," Phil said, thinking she was referring to the problem, "you forgot to take the square root of both sides right here…"

"Oh…" Keely covered. "Right… thanks." She breathed a sigh of relief as they got back to work.

* * *

**Had lotsa homework, my pretties... sorry it took long to update... (heheh... for me, over 24 hours is long...)**


	13. Disclaimer:

**My Lawyers Made Me Change The Title Of This Chapter So I Wouldn't Get Sued**

* * *

Phil smirked as he watched Keely call him from across the hall. There was a mass of kids blocking her path to Phil, and it was beginning to visibly annoy her.

So, with a quick swipe, she slammed her cane into a locker door. It made a rather large dent in the door, and an even louder crashing sound. The entire hall fell silent and looked at her. She started walking towards the large blockade of people, and people scrambled to get out of the way. One boy was unfortunate enough to trip, and Keely trampled him. Luckily for him, she wasn't wearing heels.

"Hey, Phil," she said, as she lurched up to him.

"Wow," he said, looking at the large mass of what he realized were eighth graders, all of whom were looking at Keely, warily.

"Wow, what?"

"You just… trampled that kid."

"Did I?" Keely asked, in mock confusion. "Please… he had it coming… plus, he fell down. It was only fair."

"Right…" Phil muttered.

"Say, I meant to ask… did you ever figure that--"

Phil knew what she was talking about, and answered, "Yeah, Via helped me."

"Via? You told _Via_ that you're from the…" Keely had been shouting, and barely caught herself before she shouted 'future'…

"Yeah," Phil said, dismissing it with a shrug.

"But… She…"

"It's okay, Keely…"

"But now I'm not the only one that knows…" Keely said, a hint of disappointment to her voice, handling her cane by the base, holding it like a golf club.

"Don't worry, Keely… she would've figured it out…"

"How do you know," Keely said, looking up at him.

Phil sighed. Via had said it was alright if he told… "Well, Via's from the future, too," he said, simply.

"VIA'S FROM THE-" Keely caught herself again. "…East… Anglia region of England?" she covered, as people gave her strange looks.

Phil nodded. "She was born in 2105... Just a year before me…"

"Really?" Keely asked, taking a golf swing with her cane.

"Yep," Phil said, pretending to watch the ball she would've hit, had they actually been on a golf course.

"Wow… well, I guess I don't feel too bad about you telling her then," Keely muttered, preparing to take another swing.

"Hey, you two," Via said, walking up to them. Keely, who was just bringing the cane back, let go of the cane, letting it fly while squealing, "Hey V!"

"Keely," Via said, as a kid across the hall screamed as the cane collided with the back of his head.

Keely realized that she had let go of her cane, and looked at Phil, gesturing to the hall where her cane had flown.

Phil sighed, and went to retrieve the cane. "Thanks, Philly-Willy," Keely called after him. "People will do anything for a cripple," Keely added to Via.

"So I've noticed…" Via said, as Phil came jogging back with the cane.

"How do you know?

"It's because of our superior brain-power," Phil said, putting an arm around her shoulder, while he gave Keely the cane. "Also… I think you knocked out a seventh-grader back there…"

Keely nodded. "You future people may be smart… but you… don't have _these_," she said, taking out her medicine, and taking a pill. She then mimed shaking more out of the bottle, and downing them. Phil shook his head, smirking. "This is what you need, Phil," Keely said, slipping the small container away. "You need to lighten up."

"By taking drugs?" Phil asked.

"They're not _drugs_, they're _narcotics_…"

"Narcotics are drugs," Via said, furrowing her brow.

"Sure, they are," Keely said, patting Via's head. "…and you'd love to have some, wouldn't you?"

"No…"

"Well too bad! You can't have any!"

"I don't think she wanted any…" Phil muttered.

"Oh really?" Keely asked. "Hey, Phil… I want to look something up on your Giggle when you get home, okay?"

"Uh… okay…" Phil said, remembering something he'd planned to look up on the Giggle himself.

* * *

**Okay… I guess I'm going to end this chapter now. It's really just a bridge into the next one… Plus, I'm a little tired of writing for tonight, so… I publish chapter now.**


	14. Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge

**Okay… got this idea this morning. So… I'm writing it now so I don't forget… please note how I format the thoughts for Bonnie… I know that at least one person will be confused, so I'm just saying that ahead of time.**

* * *

"Bonnie?" her friend Amanda said to her, as Bonnie's expression faltered. "Are you okay?" 

"Huh? Sure…"

"Then… what are you looking at?"

"It's just… nothing…" Bonnie said, and walked across the room.

She sat down at the counter. She was at her friend's party, trying to unload some stress. When she heard a familiar laugh from her right. She looked over, and the laughing person turned to her.

"Bonnie…" he said. "How are you doing?"

**_(Is this what you call tact?)_** Bonnie thought. "Fine," she responded. "What about you?"

"I feel like crap," he responded. **_(You should…)_** "But… I'm doing better. I uh… took your advice…"

"That's good to hear," Bonnie replied…

* * *

…Phil sat in his house, and jammed the Giggle onto his head. "Search Keely Teslow's husband, 2030..." Phil saw no risk in looking at this information now, since he figured that he wouldn't be the lucky man. 

File Not Found- Error P14

Phil frowned. "Search Keely Teslow, 2030."

File Not Found- Error P14

"Search Keely Teslow, early 21st century.

3 results:  
Keely Renae Teslow  
Keely Juliet Teslow  
Keely Teslow, TV character

Phil selected the first.

Keely Renae Teslow 25MAR1989-13DEC2005  
Cause of death: MVA

Phil set down the Giggle, rubbing his eyes… surely that was a dream, right?…unfortunately, he knew it wasn't a dream he could chance. He hopped to his feet, and ran out the door.

* * *

_**(Let's end this conversation…)**_

"Anyway," George said, looking at his watch, "I guess I should be going…"

**_(Have another drink and drive yourself home)_** Bonnie thought.

George left the house, and hopped into his car.

_**I hope there's ice on all the roads…**_

* * *

Keely walked down the sidewalk. Phil had told her to meet at his house. 

"Looking at my own reflection/ When suddenly it changes/ Violently, it changes…" Keely sang quietly to herself, as she hobbled along the path, as George started his car, as Bonnie **_(And you can think of me when you forget your seatbelt…)_** rested her head on her friend's kitchen counter, and as Phil walked out his front door.

She took a piece of paper out of her pocket, wondering what paper was doing in her hoodie. She discovered that it was Via's address.

When a drop fell onto the paper, Keely looked up. She had almost thought that she'd been crying for some reason, when more raindrops began to fall on her face.

"Great…" Keely muttered, nonchalantly taking a pill. "Rain is just what I need…"

* * *

Phil tried Keely on his cell phone-- no service. He started the car, which miraculously didn't stall, and drove out the driveway. He just had to find her… he'd been wondering for a long time why he had come to the 21st century. He figured he knew now. 

After all, Keely had said that maybe it was meant to be that he came to the present.

Phil looked down the left to Banner Drive, and saw a figure walking in the distance, whom he recognized as Keely. Breathing a sigh of relief, he signaled.

* * *

Keely saw Phil's car off in the distance, and refrained from crossing the street. 

Just as she brought her foot back onto the sidewalk, a car came whizzing by her, missing her by maybe three feet.

Phil tried to get out of the way of the speeding vehicle, but it crashed into Phil's right side.

_**(And again when your head goes through the windshield…)**_

Keely screamed, and made her way to the collision.

The driver door of Phil's sedan popped open, and Phil slowly got out.

"Are you okay, Phil?" Keely asked, her voice full of worry.

"I think so," Phil said. He walked to the driver's side of the car that crashed into him.

"That car would've hit me, Phil," Keely said, as he made his way over there. "It came out of nowhere… I saw you coming, so I stopped. Then it sped by…"

"The important thing is that you're okay," Phil said to her.

Phil opened the door, and Keely nearly dropped her cane.

_**(Best friends means you get what you deserve!)**_

He was dead. They knew that much. His head and shoulders broke through the safety glass in the front, his body slumped against the steering wheel.

Keely looked on without pity… perhaps even smiling a bit.

The police showed up ten minutes later.

* * *

**End chapter. Review now. Sentence fragment.**


	15. Good Day

**Major writer's block... hmhmhm... "Aerials" by System Of A Down is playing...**

**Okay... this chapter won't write itself...**

* * *

It was maybe twenty minutes before Phil and Keely began to walk home.

"So…" Keely said, as they walked in the rain, "why did you come out here? Why did you come looking for me?"

Phil sighed. "You know how you said that maybe I came to the past for a reason?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, it seems to me that the reason I met you was so that I could save you… from getting hit by that car…"

"How did you know I was going to get hit, though?"

"Because it said so on the Giggle…"

"So… if you hadn't have landed in this year… I would've gotten hit by that car?"

Phil shrugged. "It sure seems that way… anyway, you said you wanted to look something up on it?"

"Maybe I don't anymore," Keely said, mulling over what just happened. "Come on, let's pop in at Via's."

"But Via doesn't like it when we just pop in…"

"Exactly," Keely said, widening her eyes at Phil.

The two walked in silence for a bit until Keely piped up again. "So… do you think there are any other reasons you came here?"

"Well… I mean, there is the Via aspect… I mean, what are the odds that I'd travel back in time only to meet another time traveler? Not only that, but… she's gorgeous…"

"That's a word I need to hear a lot less- _gorgeous_…" Keely muttered. Phil shook his head. Keely tapped her cane on the door, then whacked Phil in the knee with it. He yelped in pain and hopped up and down.

Via answered the door, and looked at Phil. "Um… are you alright?"

"Yeah," Phil said, slowly putting his foot on the ground. "I'm fine."

Keely smiled as she walked into Via's house. "So, Phil, have you…" she trailed off, her eyes falling on a bowl full of candy canes.

"What?" Via asked.

Keely looked at Via without humor. "Are you mocking me?" she demanded, half shouting in Via's face. "WELL?" she yelled, slamming her cane on the ground.

"What? What do you…" Via paused, realizing what Keely meant- Candy _canes_? "No, they're just _candy_ canes… I'm not mocking you at all… I didn't--"

"Relax, Via," Keely said, calmly. "It was a joke."

"Oh… so what have you two been up to?"

"Phil killed George."

"What?" Via asked.

"I didn't… I was in a crash…"

"You were in a crash?" Via asked, even more alarmed than before.

"I'm perfectly alright," he reassured her. "He died…"

The room fell silent, and Keely let out a small snicker.

"What?" she asked as Via and Phil looked at her.

"Nothing…" Phil muttered. "The important thing is that I saved Keely's life."

"You did?" Via asked, looking at the two. They nodded.

"Please," Keely said, as Via got a look in her eye, "no kissing…"

Keely turned away for a moment, as to avert her eyes from anything that may have happened between the two. "Are you… decent?" she asked.

"Yes," she heard Phil answer her.

"Anyway…" she said, observing the details in her cane, "…I hope you realize, Phil, that I'm not an addict…"

"Still in denial, huh?"

"I'll be in denial unless I die from an overdose. Then I'll admit you were right."

Phil and Via looked at each other nervously- they had thought Keely was joking, but there was no humor on her face…

* * *

**Hm… writer's block. Oh well. I'll end it here… the chapter, not the story… I'm sure there's other stuff I need to finish.**


	16. Cute Without the 'E'

**Hmhmhm… I'm listening to "Spider-Man Theme" by Michael Bublé right now… and I have no idea what I'm about to write.

* * *

**

Keely reclined on her bed, tossing a tennis ball, deflecting it off the ceiling, and catching it as it fell back. "_It seems that all that was good has died, and is decaying… in me…_" she sang lowly… but not enough that Ashley didn't hear.

"What's that?" she asking, stopping and poking her head in Keely's room.

"Huh?"

"You… said something, didn't you?"

"Sure…" Keely muttered, catching the tennis ball. (_Well let's go back to the middle of the day that starts it all…_)

"What's on your mind?"

"I'm not sure… if you'd understand…" (_I can't begin to let you know just what I'm feeling…_)

"Try me."

"It's just… I dunno… these pills I have to take… they're affecting me so much…" (_And now the red ones make me fly, and the blue ones help me fall…_)

"What do you mean?"

"They're making me act differently… don't tell me you haven't noticed that I've been different… plus they… they make me think… differently than normal…"

"Like what, specifically?"

"Well… I mean, Phil has noticed that I've been really… different lately… and sometimes, I think… I…" (_And I think I'll blow my brains against the ceiling…_) Keely sighed. "I think… bad thoughts…"

"Keely--"

"And I feel like I can't help it… because I know I'll have to live with it for the rest of my life… or not at all…" (_And as the fragments of my skull begin to fall_…)

"Listen,--"

"It just seems like I'll never be the same person I was before…" (_Fall on your tongue like pixie dust, just think happy thoughts and we'll fly home…_)

"But Keely… you'll learn to deal with it… I--"

"I know… I mean, anytime I think of stuff like that, I wonder, 'If I was gone, who would help keep Phil in check?' Don't worry… I'm not like that, Ashley."

"Oh… well I guess that's good…"

"But I have to go tell Phil something now…" Keely said, getting to her feet, and leaving the house.

* * *

"I got it," Phil called out as a tapping sound came from the doorway. He opened the door, and Keely stepped past him. "Come in," he muttered.

"Phil, I think I need to say something… I've realized that… you're right."

"I'm right?" Phil asked.

"Yes, you are… you said that I'm an addict, and I denied it. Now I'm telling you that you're right."

"Keely?" Phil asked, as Keely began to walk to the door.

"What?" Keely said, looking back at him.

"What are--"

"Phil, I said I was an addict. I never said anything about having a problem." She smiled at him and walked out the door, leaving him with his thoughts.

* * *

**Hm... I can't imagine this story will go on too much longer...**


	17. Come What May

**Hm… I guess I'm listening to "Your Song" right now, off of the Moulin Rouge soundtrack… good music on that movie, I tell ya. I did want this story to be longer, but… I don't really think that there's anything else to be said in it, really… plus, I wanted to finish it before Sunday, because I won't have any computer access for the next two weeks… I'll probably get back kinda early January… probably the 4th or 5th, if all goes as planned, with a new story. I know, it sucks… but this isn't something I want to do… it's more something that's being forced upon me…**

**Hm… I'm going to warn you now- if you're eating while reading this… that might not be such a good idea. Don't tell me that I didn't warn you…**

Keely eyeballed Owen warily as he sat down with his lunch tray. "You're not going to eat that, are you?" she asked, as he smelled it apprehensively. "What is it, anyway? Assorted horse parts?"

"It can't be that bad," Owen reasoned.

It was worse.

Taking a bigger sniff, he added, "Though I'm not sure if I should be eating it with my nausea…" Owen had been suffering nausea since P.E. that morning.

"I wouldn't touch that with a ten foot shaft," Via muttered, as Keely took out a brown paper bag.

"Hey, Muffin," Phil said, sitting at the table.

"And now it's _my_ nausea," Keely said, dropping her lunch bag with an unsatisfying _plop_ on the table. Owen looked up at her, pointing to the dropped bag. She waved her hand in a _go ahead_ gesture, and he hastily took the bag.

"So what do we have here?" Phil asked nobody in particular, taking a gander at Owen's plate. "Say… that looks familiar…" he muttered, pointing to a rather odd-looking greenish blob in the food.

"It does," Via said. "Oh! I know what that reminds me of!"

"What is it?" Phil asked.

"It's when we were traveling, that thing that burst out of that guy's thorax, and we hit it, and hit it, and hit it…"

"…And it just wouldn't die!" the two finished in unison, and began laughing maniacally.

Keely and Owen looked at each other, then raised an eyebrow at the two.

"Oh, sorry… inside joke," Phil covered. Owen shook his head, and continued rooting around in Keely's lunch bag. "Oh… _here _we go," he said, pulling out a small plastic cup of Jell-O. Phil let out a piercing scream, and ran out the cafeteria. Via soon followed him.

Keely and Owen had a brief staring contest, then Keely muttered, "I'd better make sure they don't start doing anything hasty," and made a quick exit. The whole room had fallen silent, then the chatter began again once the door behind Keely shut.

"Phil," Via muttered, as she approached him, "what's wrong?"

"That… thing Owen pulled out of--"

"Phil, that's Jell-O… it's a food."

"But it looks so much like--"

"I know, but that won't happen for another forty years. You're going to blow your cover if you keep freaking out about minor things like Jell-O…"

"I suppose you're right," Phil said, and looked out the window, and promptly screamed again. "They're here! They're here! Albino Brain Chiggers! Run for your lives!"

"_Phil!_" Via shouted, grabbing him by the shoulders. "It's just snow… okay?"

"Snow?" Phil muttered, looking at the outside world again. "Oh… what do you know…"

"Phil, are you ready to act like an adult in there now?"

Phil nodded.

"Okay… let's go."

"It's about time I found you," Keely muttered, coming up alongside the two. "What was that about?"

"Phil just had to… unload some stress," Via covered, as the three of them sat down at the table.

"Hey, guys," Owen greeted. "All calmed down?"

"Yeah…" Keely muttered. "I don't even know why I bother, anymore… I couldn't care less about anything right now…"

"So does that mean you're willing to go out with me?"

"No," Keely snapped. "I'm hopeless, Owen. Not desperate."

"She torched you," Phil muttered, smirking.

Keely smiled and popped a pill down the hatch Owen told Phil to shut his mouth.

"Careful, Owen," Keely warned. "Make him mad and he might crash into you with his car and kill you."

"Keely, we've been over this," Phil said, in a warning tone. Keely rolled her eyes. "You're so childish, Keely," he added when he saw that. Keely stuck her tongue out at him.

"Watch it, Phil; I have a cane and I know how to use it."

"I'd like to see you try," Phil retorted.

"You want to bring it on?" Keely asked, standing up.

"Let's go," Phil said, also rising.

"Phil," Via shot in a warning tone. Phil took one glance at her and immediately sat down.

"You two…" Keely muttered. "I don't think I'll be able to put up with you…"

"Well," Phil said, as Owen left the table, "we can't help it that we were destined to be together."

"How do you figure you were destined to be together?"

"Come on, Keely… what are the odds that two people will travel back in time, have their time machines break down, and meet each other in the past?"

Keely frowned. "Not too good, I guess…"

Via and Phil smiled at each other. "And there's no other way I'd rather have it…" Phil muttered, placing a hand on hers. The two gazed into each other's ey--

"Oh, please…" Keely muttered, ruining the moment, while looking the other way. "There are people trying to eat in here…"

"If you don't like it, why don't you leave?"

Keely sighed. "Fine… I have to get ready for the afternoon announcements anyway." She got up to go down to the video lab.

"Be sure that you don't get DVT in the other leg," Phil said.

Keely rolled her eyes, and whacked him in the back with her cane. "Never annoy a cripple," she said, and hobbled out of the room, glad to be away from any possible display of public affection.

Looking at the frame of the door to the AV lab, she saw a mistletoe plant hanging. Shaking her head, she tossed it into the trash. _It's just a weed anyway_, she thought.

* * *

**Hm… guess I kind of feel obligated to end the story here… since I don't want to leave a two-week cliffhanger, and all… Whatever. Just review… I have a few ideas for stories when I get back, but I have to make sure that all the kinks are worked out of them before I release 'em. Anyway… reviews would be appreciated. Ugh… I hate writer's block…**


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